Melbourne Zoo croc makes snappy work of crate training
You should never smile at a crocodile, but keepers at Melbourne Zoo can’t seem to wipe the grins off their faces ahead of World Croc Day this weekend. [Saturday June 17]
Luzon the critically endangered Philippine Crocodile that calls Melbourne Zoo home is making great strides with his healthcare training, stepping voluntarily into a purpose-built crate that allows keepers to give him a full health check.
Melbourne Zoo Herpetology Coordinator Raelene Hobbs said the keeper team has been training this crocodile for a while.
“We been focussing on this crate behaviour for the past two years,” Ms Hobbs said.
“The crate allows us to remove Luzon from his habitat, but only if he wants to participate. It means that we can easily do improvement work to his home if needed, but long-term it allows him to participate in his own healthcare.
“We can safely take blood to check on his health and do some tactile work on his legs and tail for possible injections, and obviously get a nice look at his mouth and teeth.”
This training allows Luzon to become more comfortable around keepers and the veterinary team, so any stress is removed if he does need any type of injection.
“Crocodiles are really smart. They have amazing facial recognition skills. Luzon is also able to recognise different sounds, smells and colours that assists with training,” Ms Hobbs said.
The Philippine Crocodile is classified as Critically Endangered with a decreasing population according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List.
There are believed to be fewer than 120 Philippine Crocodiles left in the wild.
The main threats to this species in the wild are habitat loss as a result of human population growth, and individuals being killed, sometimes by accident.
World Croc Day highlights the survival challenges facing crocodiles in the wild.
Zoos Victoria is committed to an international recovery program for the species. It partners with the Mabuwaya Foundation in north-east Philippines, funding protection of wild crocodiles and their habitats, and supporting livelihoods of people living in the region.
Melbourne Zoo visitors can see Luzon the Philippine Crocodile within the Reptile House which is open daily from 9:30am to 4:30pm.
Zoos Victoria and Melbourne Zoo visitors are reminded that all tickets must be pre-booked online at zoo.org.au.
Zoos Victoria Members no longer need to book but are required to scan their Membership card to gain entry.